Life
by A.L. Blackwell
Summary: What it would be like with a few added Uchihas, and what not.. I honestly don't have a real title for this yet..
1. Secret Revealed

A/N: This here story like type deal. Sorry if it hops back and forth between characters.  
Also Naruto does not belong to me and never will.

Uchiha Sasuke, one of the last surviving members of the  
legendary Uchiha clan of the Konoha Village panted as he leaned  
against the ruined rocks in the quarry near the outskirts of the  
village. Sasuke held onto his arm, which steam poured out from it  
after he spent a lot of his chakra practicing the new technique that  
he had recently learned from Kakashi-sensei.

His breathing labored, the young ninja prodigy stared at the new  
holes in the stone that he created.

Not to far away, Kakashi nodded his head.  
"That's not too bad. You learn quick Sasuke."

"I have to" replied the younger ninja.

"One word of warning though, don't overdo it. At your current  
strength now, do not attempt to pull off this technique more than a  
few times." Kakashi stared down at his own hand. "That is, unless  
you want to die."

Sasuke was silent. Then Kakashi laughed. "But don't worry about it.  
I'm sure a smart boy like you will use some common sense. Now let's  
go back to the village and get something to eat."

The young Uchiha boy nodded his head then followed after his teacher  
down the mountain.

Uzumaki Naruto was not a happy ninja. Not only would his new tutor  
not teach him any new techniques, but the old man only wanted to  
spend his time peeping in on young women in the hot springs and  
watch girls bath under the waterfall.

"Research my butt" the blond boy muttered to himself as he walked  
along down through the marketplace towards his favorite ramen  
stand. "That damn erosenin (a term Naruto uses for Jiraiya-  
literally means a perverted man who's lived for 1000 years.) when's  
he going to teach me something. What kind of teacher doesn't teach  
his pupil"

Naruto shook his head then pulled out his frog wallet and playfully  
tossed it up into the air and caught it as it came down. "Bah,  
forget it. I might as well just get some ramen."

In the mean time Tatsuya stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom.  
The last few months hadbeen long, but fun, she got to be a Genin again.  
Now, it was time to become a Jounin again and reveal her real self as planned.  
_Time to present to them Uchiha Tatsuya_  
she thought as she put her headband on, she was now fully dressed in her Jounin clothes.

A few minutes later she was out the door and headed to get some  
ramen. As she walked through Konoha she got a few odd glances and  
looks from people. She simply shrugged them off and continued on her  
path to get ramen.

Uchiha Kame walked down the street toward the ramen shop, hungry  
after training his students all morning. He was particularly  
impressed with Kuroi Tatsuya, whom he thought would have no trouble  
in the preliminaries. He approached the ramen shop, and went in,  
seeing Tatsuya sitting on one of the stools. "Hey, Tatsuya" he  
paused mid-sentence, his eyebrow raising"Where...did you get those  
clothes"

Tatsuya looked over at Kame. "Oh these old things? I've had 'em for  
a couple years." She turned and looked at her bowl of ramen; she  
pulled down her mask and quickly ate, before anyone could really  
notice she was done.

"Why do you ask" she asked curiously and stupidly._This is going to be interesting_  
she thought with a sigh.

Kame blinked with a stupefied expression on his face.  
"Why do I...Humph! Do you really need to ask that? Anyways, I'm asking because   
only Chunnins and Jounins wear those clothes, and  
you're...obviously not a Genin..." He sighed. "So, what other  
secrets are you going to reveal to me this fine day? I bet your  
last name's not even Kuroi" He looked at her harshly.

"As a matter of fact my last name isn't Kuroi...its Uchiha." she said and walked  
off rather quickly. Her walk then became a run, she almost ran into a passing Kakashi  
and Sasuke. She came to a stop in the training field, she hopped up into a nearby tree  
where she sat for a while thinking. 'I knew it, I knew people would get upset, but I didn't  
think Kame would' she thought sighing. She continued to sit in the tree, maybe no one  
would find her.

Kame just stared at his ramen, in shock from what he heard. Finally he snapped out of it  
and quickly ate. He got up and walked quickly out, and ran right into Sasuke.

"Ah! Sorry about that, Sasuke! Wish I could talk, but I've got to find Tatsuya...I think she  
has something to tell you, so I'll bring her back here."

He dashed away toward the training area, hoping to find her there.

Sasuke blinked at Kame as the fellow ninja ran into him. "Right.  
Whatever" he said with a shrug.

He and Kakashi took their seats at the Ramen stand.

"Well well, if it isn't Naruto" Kakashi said, smiling. At least,   
what others thought to be a smile. With the mask he wore, the only  
telltale sign of a smile was the slight movement of his eyes.

Naruto nodded, slurping down his noodles with his usual gusto. "Oh,   
Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke..." Naruto fixed his fellow teammate with a  
perplexed stare. "You guys been training"

Sasuke didn't reply to him, so Kakashi jumped in. "Yes. I've been  
working with Sasuke on perfecting his technique. Oh, and by the way,  
how is your new teacher going for you"

Naruto frowned and stared at Kakashi with squinted eyes. "That  
guy... no, I found someone else to teach me... the erosennin,   
Jiraiya."

"Oh? Is that so"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, but the guy won't teach me anything! All  
erosennin does is stare at girls all day."

Kakashi laughed. "I'm sure if you're patient enough, he'll teach you  
something good. Jiraiya just so happens to be a great teacher."

"That has yet to be determined."

The one-eyed Sharingan master laughed again. "In due time, Naruto."  
He turned towards the ramen stand to order. "We'll have two orders of  
ramen please..."

A bit later Tatsuya sensed Kame, and became completely still and silent, hoping he  
would find her... 'I really don't want to deal with him.'she thought. She looked for him  
then spotted him. In a swift movement threw two Kunai and three Shuriken at him. She then  
hopped from the tree she was in to the next, and hid high up in it, where she silently watched.

A/N: AH I know, you have no clue what's going on with Tatsuya… Haha, I'll have to put her story one of these days..


	2. Reunited

A/N: Time for another chapter...

Life-Chapter Two- Reunited

In a flash the kunai and shuriken fell to the ground in halves. He  
was standing there with his katars crossed. "Tatsuya, I know I was  
a little too harsh on you...I'm sorry. I just didn't realize it was  
you. Please come down...I want to see my sister..." He sat down,   
cross legged, waiting for her.

"Now you owe me, two Kunai, three shuriken, and a hug." she said  
as she jumped from the tree and tackled him. She hugged him quickly  
then sat cross legged in front of him. "Why were you so harsh" She  
asked. "It hurt you know." she said looking at the ground and  
picking up half a shuriken and playing with it.

Kame looked at the ground. "I missed you, sis...I was just shocked  
that one of my students was deceiving me for so long, and was really  
a Jounin...I'm sorry." He looked up at her, smiling, then  
laughed. "You know what? I told Sasuke that you had something to  
tell him...I don't know if you want to yet, so I'll leave it up to  
you." He could barely contain his joy, and tears began to well up  
in his eyes.

"I'll tell him later" she said looking back up at him.  
"Don't cry big brother" she said in a comforting way. "Beside  
Jounins don't cry." she laughed teasingly. She then stood up and  
stretched... "Now, can you please replace my weapons you so joyfully  
destroyed." she said looking down at him. She kicked at a few of the  
pieces and threw the piece of shuriken she had at a tree, where it  
stuck in the bark.

She walked over to the tree and pulled it out. "This could still be  
used." she said looking at it and throwing it at Kame, knowing he  
would dodge it or break it more...

He caught the piece of shuriken in one hand. "If you haven't  
noticed, I'm not like other Jounin...Ever since Mom and Dad were  
killed, I've devoted my skills as a shinobi to protecting those  
close to me..." he said, drying his eyes"I'm only crying because  
I'm overjoyed to finally know you're back. And you really should  
tell Sasuke soon...when he sees you in those clothes he'll get  
suspicious."

"I see." she said looking at him She walked over to him and hugged  
him once more. "I'm glad to be back" she said softly. "And your  
right I really should go tell Sasuke, he has every right to know,  
even though he has never known of an older sister." she said looking  
at the ground.. "This is going to be tough for me to do, you know."  
She sighed and turned to walk away... "Where is he" she asked as  
she stopped in her tracks and turned to Kame.

"He's at the ramen shop, I think. I ran into him...literally." He  
laughed.

"Oh yeah, here's some of my kunai and shuriken, you can  
have them." He reached into a pouch and pulled out the number of  
kunai and shuriken he destroyed, and handed them to her.

"Thanks" she said taking the Kunai and Shuriken and placing them in  
their rightful spots... She smiled at Kame before speaking"Please  
come with me." she said then turned around and headed to the Ramen  
shop.

A little bit later, Tatsuya arrived at the Ramen shop. She quickly  
took a seat next to Naruto, who was still eating. She honestly  
didn't want to be there, but she knew she had to confront Sasuke,  
and everyone else. She sighed, waiting to be noticed, she knew Kame  
would say something as soon as he arrived, he always had a big mouth, so she just waited for him...

Kame arrived at the ramen shop shortly after Tatsuya. He noticed  
all the people there and thought,_ Hmm...Maybe she should just break__  
__the news to Sasuke, and tell the others later. I don't want them to__  
__see Sasuke's reaction. _He then tapped Sasuke on the shoulder.

"Hey, brother, sorry about the wait. Tatsuya and I want to talk to you...in private, if that's alright  
with you." He backed off a little, waiting for an answer.

Sasuke blinked then fixed Kame with a curious stare.

"What" He leaned back in his chair to look over at Tatsuya who sat on the other side of Naruto.

"What is it you need to talk to me about" he  
inquired.

Tatsuya stood up and walked over to Sasuke"Me." she replied and  
grabbed his arm dragging him off, away from other people.

At that moment Sakura was approaching the Ramen stand and saw  
Tatsuya dragging Sasuke by the arm.

"Hey! What are you doing to Sasuke-Kun" she yelled at Tatsuya.

"Shut up and mind your own business, girl." Tatsuya snapped back and  
continued to drag Sasuke away.

Kame just watched them, a blank expression on his face. _I didn't__  
__think she would be that forceful._ He thought as he quickly  
followed them.

"Oi! Matte yo (Hold on/Wait)" Sasuke exclaimed as Tatsuya  
manhandled him. "What do you think you're doing? Let me go" The  
younger ninja struggled in the older girl's arms."

"Hey, don't you snap at Sakura-Chan like that" Naruto said to her,   
suddenly up on his feet. He didn't care if Tatsuya was older; no one  
talked to his Sakura like that!

Kakashi sighed and stood up. It was still too early in the morning  
for so much excitement. "Okay, calm down. All of you." He shot  
Tatsuya a questioning stare. "What's going on here"

She kept hold of Sasuke, ignoring Naruto. She looked at Kakashi and  
sighed. "I need to speak to Sasuke alone, with Kame. It's of an  
important matter that does not yet include all of you." she said  
calmly then proceeded to drag Sasuke away.

"Don't struggle and make your self look like a foolish weakling."  
She said to where only Sasuke could hear her.

Naruto stared at Kakashi, as if waiting to see how he'd react to  
Tatsuya's blatant disregard for everyone else. But then Kakashi  
merely shrugged his shoulders and sat back down to finish up his  
noodles.

"All right then" he said to them. "If it's that important to you."

Naruto's jaw hung wide open. Just like that, Kakashi dropped it?

Sasuke relaxed and looked away, apathetic to the whole  
situation. "All right. Fine."

She loosened her grip on Sasuke, barely hanging on to him, but  
guiding him to a more private place to talk. She looked behind to  
make sure Kame was following. When they arrived at the spot she took  
of her mask and looked at him. "I want to ask you something... Look  
at my face carefully. Who do you see" she asked, not knowing any  
other way to start the conversation.

"I see a person who interrupted my meal" Sasuke said to her. But  
when he finally got a good look at her real face, he froze. Then,  
after his hesitation, he shook his head, thinking that his mind was  
playing tricks on him. Or that she was.

"I hope you didn't drag me over here just so I could compliment you  
on your looks, because you won't be getting any from me" he said to  
Tatsuya, matter-of-factly.

Tbc


	3. Reactions

Chapter Three- Reactions

"Sasuke, I'm serious." she said in a very serious tone. "Who do  
you see" she asked again as she quickly glanced at Kame giving him  
a look that said help.

Kame caught her glance. "Sasuke, you didn't know that I was your  
older brother until just recently, right? Well, you have another  
sibling that you didn't know about...The girl, standing in front of  
you, is our sister." He looked at Sasuke with an expressionless  
face...

Sasuke took a step back from the two of them. No! It couldn't be  
true!

"Uso... uso da! (Lie... it's a lie)" Sasuke said, his tone just  
barely above a whisper. The corner of his lip turned up into a  
snarl. "It's a lie"

But she looks just like okaasan said a small voice that came from  
deep inside of his mind.

He shook his head. "No! Brother killed them all! Besides, I never  
even knew this girl before the chuunin exams even started! You  
expect me to believe you now? I was all alone for all these years,  
and you spring this up on me now"

Sasuke felt his anger begin to rise. "First Kame, and now you! Don't  
go thinking I'll just accept you with open arms. You'll get nothing  
of the sort from me"

A single tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it  
away. _I knew it. I knew he wasn't going to accept this...why did I__  
__even come back... _she thought as she stared at him.

"...I guess it was a waste of my time to even come back to Konoha. I only came back because I cared for you; I didn't want you to be alone. Even though I had never met you before... All those years, I dreamed of being with my little brother, I would stare at the pictures Okaasan sent me of you. Wishing I could be here with my family... You try being  
sent away at a young age, leaving your family and all that you loved  
behind, to be forgotten..." She continued to look at Sasuke. "It's  
not a very good feeling... and if you want I can leave, and you can  
be like Itachi to me...Non-existent." she looked at him with an  
expressionless face...

She pulled two pictures out of her pocket and handed them to Sasuke.  
One picture was of her, Kame and their mother, and the other of  
Sasuke and their mother. "Keep them." she said as she turned and  
walked away while pulling up her mask.

Sasuke let the pictures fall to the ground. How dare she"If you  
cared about me so much... if you wanted to see me so bad... you  
would have come back sooner, not left me to rot all by myself for  
all these years" he shouted, still very angry at her for trying to  
just magically become a part of his life again.

His hands at his side clenched into tight fists and began to  
tremble slightly from the force of his own grip. "As far as I'm  
concerned, I am the last Uchiha! I alone am going to restore my  
family's honor"

She stopped in her track after what he said. She turned around tears  
in her eyes"I tried..." she said "I honestly tried. You don't  
know what I've been through to get here..." she took a few steps  
towards him tears running down her cheeks. "I knew it would be hard  
for you to accept." she said wiping her tears away.

"Please, Sasuke, give me a chance..." she said as she took a few more  
steps and hugged him."Please." she said softly still hugging  
him becoming unusually desperate.

"HANASE! (Let go)" Sasuke said, breaking free of her hug. "Why  
should I give you a chance" he said to her, glaring daggers at  
Tatsuya. "When you never even bothered to give me one. Just go  
away... I'm sure a jounin like you has better things to do than hang  
off of genin's like me."

He shot her a knowing look. "It wasn't hard to find out. Now please  
leave."

"Just a little brat." she mumbled then walked away as if nothing  
happened. _He'll come around; I just need to give him time to__  
__accept it._ She thought as she walked away back towards the ramen  
shop.

Kame just gave him a cold look. "Humph! Selfish..." He turned his  
back to Sasuke, and started walking away. "Come see me when you  
realize the world doesn't revolve around you...Until then, you're  
not my brother. I as well as Tatsuya have hurt as much as you...and  
you shouldn't push people away like that. It hurts everyone, and I  
know it hurts you, too. Unless you have no heart..." He walked  
away in disgust to the ramen shop.

"Che" Sasuke went on his way, having lost his  
appetite. "Hypocrites. They say I think the world revolves around  
me? But it's those two that are trying to push themselves into my  
life like they belong there."

He hated people like that, people who just wouldn't mind their own  
damn business.

"What was that" asked Naruto, who was passing by with a full  
backpack.

"None of your business" Sasuke replied flatly. He looked at his  
fellow team mate curiously. "What's all that for? Are going out to  
train"

"Yeah. I'm gonna try to find that erosennin and get him to teach me  
something. Well, bye." Naruto leapt up onto a nearby rooftop and  
disappeared.

Sasuke, with both hands in his pockets, headed off to find Kakashi-  
sensei.

Tatsuya sighed and muttered random things to herself as she walked to  
the ramen shop. When she arrived she noticed Sakura was still there.  
She looked at her and Sakura shot a dirty look at her. Tatsuya  
simply shrugged and ignored her, then ordered some ramen. _'Such a__  
__horrible day.'_ she thought, feeling depressed.

Kame got back to the ramen shop, and sat down next to Tatsuya. He  
looked at her, seeing how depressed she was.

"Hey...It needed to be  
done. He had to know about you, there wasn't any other way..." He  
dropped his head to the counter, depressed as well.

"I take it the two of you finally confronted him and told him"  
Kakashi inquired, still seated in the same spot at the ramen cart.  
The older ninja looked at the two of them with his one,  
unblocked eye. "And I take it that it didn't go so well."

Tatsuya sighed and looked over at Kakashi... "Heh, it went  
horrible. But what do you expect from him? I knew he wouldn't take  
to it very well." she sighed again and looked at Kame... "I don't  
know what to do anymore."

Kakashi studied Tatsuya's features for a brief moment. It was  
hard to tell what the instructor was thinking, especially with the  
mask that he wore.

After a pause, Kakashi said to her"Well, I suppose that it's  
understandable that he took it poorly. That's just how Sasuke is. I  
can see how you must be feeling, but let me ask you this... did you  
ever consider for just a minute how Sasuke himself must feel  
regarding all this? You did just drag him off and tell him out of  
the blue."

Kame sat up and looked at Kakashi and Tatsuya. "What other way was  
there...I mean, he knew you, right sis? The only thing he didn't  
know was that you were his sister..." He put his head on the  
counter and wrapped his arms around it again. "Hell...He hasn't  
welcomed me yet, either, and it's been a few months since I  
returned...I don't know what to do either..."

Tatsuya sighed deeply before speaking. "It really wasn't my idea of  
telling him yet. I was more or less forced and rushed into it."  
She said glancing over at Kame.

"Forced" Kakashi tilted his head to the side and looked at Tatsuya  
curiously with his one open eye. "What makes you say that" he  
asked. "What do you mean by 'forced?' You're saying that  
something... or SOMEONE made you do this"

"Yes... it was my dear sweet brother, Kame." she said not sounding  
to please. She looked back at Kakashi and sighed. "What have I  
done" she asked as she put her head down...


	4. An Old Friend

**Disclaimer: **You know the routine.

**Chapter 4: An old friend.**

The raven haired Jounin watched the silver haired man as he spoke to  
the other woman. It had been a long time since she's seen him and it  
seemed that no matter how long it's been Kakashi hadn't changed. Her  
nimble fingers pulled a slip of paper from her vest and swiftly went  
to work. In a moment she had a perfectly formed origami butterfly in  
her hands. She whispered, "Go."

With that order the butterfly flapped its wings and took off. It  
fluttered its way down the street, narrowly avoiding people, carts,  
and one persistent cat before finding its resting place, square on  
Kakashi's nose.

Kakashi blinked and stared at the paper bird that made a perch on  
his masked nose. "Ah? What's this?" He stared at the thing long and  
hard before picking the thing up between his index finger and thumb.  
He tilted his head to the side. "It's a little early in the season  
for mosquitoes."

Aiyousha sighed and walked over the ramen shop. She swiftly rescued  
the butterfly from the hapless Jounin's hands. "And this is a prime  
example on WHY they teamed you with me when we were genins. This,   
Kakashi-Chan, is a But-ter-fly." She said slowly as though the  
silver haired man was an idiot. Aiyousha smirked. The origami insect  
returned to its flat nature once her fingers touched it. She tucked  
the sheet back into her vest.

Kakashi's eye closed and his mask moved up on his face as one could  
barely make out a smile from the masked instructor. "Ah! Ai-Chan,  
it's been a while. It's so good to see you again! I see your skills  
at origami have improved since I almost got it this time."

He gestured to the empty stool beside him. "Come, why not have a  
seat."

Aiyousha rapped her knuckles against his head, "And YOU'RE still an  
idiot I see. Sometimes I wonder how you made it past the Chuunin  
exam, Copy Ninja Kakashi." She remarked, sticking out her tongue.  
She grew serious as she sat down next to him, "I hear two of your  
students passed the elimination fights. Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki  
Naruto, I didn't think either would get that far." She commented,   
ordering a glass of sake.

Kakashi sat up straight and all of a sudden became solemn. "Well,   
you've heard correctly. And both of those two have great potential.  
Every mission we've gone on together has shown me so. Sasuke's raw  
talent alone gives him the potential to be one of the greatest  
ninja's of our village. And Naruto's worked hard to overcome his  
weaknesses. He's a very sly one, that Naruto. Surprised everybody."

"Lately, I've been training Sasuke and left Naruto to Jiraiya." He  
poured some sake into Aiyousha's cup for her. "So, what brings you  
back here? Not that I'm not glad to see you again, of course Ai-  
Chan."

Aiyousha chuckled, "Hmmm, I'm not surprised about Naruto-kun. After  
all the pranks he's pulled...well, I think he enjoys catching people  
off guard. And I wouldn't have expected anything less from an  
Uchiha. But with both of them being loners...that must make working  
as a team rather awkward." The raven haired Jounin noted.

She took a sip from her drink and sighed, Kakashi ALWAYS had good  
taste when it came to wine. "My genin's took the last Chuunin exam  
and Iruka didn't pass enough students this time around so the Hokage  
sent me on an extended mission. I only just finished giving him my  
report. Something funny is going on Ka-Chan. I can't put my finger  
on it but the Hidden Village of the Sand has been acting TOO  
normal." The last thing they needed was another war. The Hokage  
was...let's face it, he was old and what was worse was he had yet to  
choose a Fifth to take his place. Konoha was in a rather dangerous  
position.

Kakashi nodded his head somberly. "I know. All of us know, but for  
right now, there's nothing we can do. If we act to suspiciously, or  
let them know that we're suspicious. Tensions between villages have  
always been pretty high."

He propped himself up on his arm which rested against the Ramen cart  
counter. "Anyways, with the final part of the exam coming up, at  
least everyone's been kept occupied. The villagers have been  
awaiting this event for a while now. Many are just eager to see our  
quite popular Sasuke in action. I've been training him personally  
myself."

"Really! I didn't think an old man like you could keep up with a  
handsome young thing like Sasuke-kun, Ka-Chan." She  
teased. "Especially a LAZY old man like you. I was starting to think  
you were failing all those students on purpose." Ai had to admit it  
was fun teasing her old cell mate like they were genins again.

Kakashi allowed himself a small laugh. "I'm not that old. Those kids  
need my guidance. Guidance only someone with years of experience can  
give them. Though sometimes training them can be difficult."

Kakashi held up one finger. "The road of a ninja is long and hard.  
There is nothing that comes easy to a ninja. Still, it's all paying  
off now. I see a lot of promise in my students. Now that you're  
back, will you be taking up the duty as an instructor yourself? I  
know you could teach these kids a lot, with the experience you have,   
Ai-Chan."

"Guiding them to be masters of bullshit?" Ai asked with a  
smile. "That seems to be the ONLY technique you've managed to  
perfect in the time I've been away, Ka-Chan."

She faked a put upon sigh, "Well, looks like I'd better be an  
instructor again, otherwise all those poor kids will learn from you  
is how to be late and read Come Come Paradise."

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "That series is an excellent piece  
of literature. Very well known and popular, I might add. Very well  
written. The author is truly a master writer."

He pushed aside his empty ramen bowl and stared Aiyousha straight in  
the eyes. "So, if you'll become an instructor that would be great.  
That means we'll be able to work a lot closer, just like we used to.  
Hey, why don't you join me in a little bit. I'm going to work with  
Sasuke. Knowing him, he's probably already at the rock quarry,  
practicing the new move I taught him. What do you say? It'll give  
you a little practice and we'll see if you have what it takes to  
teach."

"The author is a pervert, Ka-Chan." Ai commented. She stared back at  
at the Sharingan master. "Are you CHALLENGING me, Kakashi?" She  
asked. Kakashi and she had started teaching nearly at the same time  
and the only reason why she didn't have any current students was her  
last group took the previous Chuunin exam. One became a Chuunin, one  
decided that he had no chance to become one, and the last had been  
reassigned to a Genin cell that had lost a member during the exam.

She stood up, "Well, if Sasuke-kun is already there, it wouldn't do  
for his 'Sensei' to be late...again, ne, Kakashi-SENSEI." Ai  
remarked with a teasing grin. It was odd seeing him so serious.  
Something told her that something happened to get the normally inept-  
seeming Jounin to rein his slightly flamboyant nature in.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders once again. "It's quite all right.  
Leaving him alone to himself allows him time to practice.  
Discipline is learned, it is not taught. Well, let's be on our way,  
shall we? The rock quarry is not far from here."

He paid for his ramen and for Aiyousha's sake. The eccentric jounin  
stuck both hands into his pockets and the two of them went on their  
way.

"So, what kind of things did you see while out on the field for so  
long?" inquired a curious Kakashi.

Ai shrugged, "Oh, the usual, life going on. A lot of places are  
still trying to recover from war and the Kyuubi no Kitsune." She  
stopped walking and looked directly at the jounin, "What happened,   
Kakashi? I know you and there's something off. Something is  
bothering you. Talk to me, Kakashi." She said seriously.

Kakashi turned to her as they walked along and did his smile with  
his one unobstructed eye. "There's nothing wrong," he replied to  
her. "It's just been a while since we've been together like this.  
Just as you've probably been through a lot while you were away, I've  
been through a lot as well."

It just so happened that they passed by the bookstore, and what  
would be on display in the front window? Why, Kakashi's favorite  
series, of course.

All of a sudden, the Copy Ninja became a giddy school boy as he ran  
over to the window display and hugged his body against it. "It's  
out! It's finally out! The new one!" he cheered. "Oh... I have to  
buy it! I have to buy it!"

Just goes to show that some things never change.

**A/N: There is more to come.. didn't want to make the chapter too long. Hehe.. Please Review.**


	5. Chase And Meet

**Disclaimer: **You know the routine.

**Chapter 5: Chase and Meet**

Ai shook her head, "Baka..." She unraveled the paper streamer she  
had wrapped around her arm, "Paper user special technique: Paper  
Lasso!" She said flinging the streamer at the obsessed ninja. In a  
moment she had the Jounin cocooned in paper and laying on the  
sidewalk. Ai threw the end into the street, looking satisfied as the  
remainder sunk deep into the stone, anchoring Kakashi to the spot.  
She smirked, "Now be a good boy and you might get a present!" She  
said in a sing song before slipping into the bookstore.

"Wha? Huh? Hey, who turned out the lights?" Kakashi uttered in  
confusion. The paper cocoon that ensnared him writhed around  
frantically as Kakashi struggled in an attempt to free himself from  
the trap.

In a few moments she returned to the still writhing copy  
ninja, "Really, Ka-Chan, should you be a jounin if you fall for such  
a simple technique?" Ai teased then she smirked, "By the way, I'm  
currently holding a copy of the newest Come Come Paradise. If you  
want it, you'll have to catch me." She said, reaching down with two  
fingers, she made a scissor motion and severed both the streamer,  
pinning the man to the ground, and her connection to his bonds,  
returning the paper to its normal fragile state. She leapt away  
before the Jounin could recover. Ai had stashed the book insider her  
vest as she leapt from roof top to roof top heading toward the  
quarry. She only hoped Sasuke had a strong heart because for once  
his sensei would be on time.

Kakashi watched as Ai disappeared from sight. "So... she wants to  
play games does she?" The famed Copy Ninja sighed and tapped the tip  
of his sandal on the ground then knelt down and began drawing  
something in the dirt with his finger.

"Ten..." he began to count down. A little bird flew overhead and he  
heard movement on the roof above him. He looked up and saw Naruto,   
carrying his backpack.

"Oi. Naruto!" Kakashi called out to him. Nine...

"Huh? Kakashi-sensei?" The blond ninja youth hoped down to meet him.  
When Kakashi got a good look at him, he noticed that his student's  
clothes were dirty and worn.

Eight...

Kakashi smiled with his eye. "Been doing some training have you?"

Seven...

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'm done for now. The erosennin disappeared,   
probably on his peeking escapades again."

"I see..."

Six...

"What are you up to, sensei?" inquired the curious Naruto.

"Oh, just meeting up with a friend then going to check up on  
Sasuke's progress. We've been training at the rock quarry."

Five...

"Oh. Okay."

"You're very fortunate to have Jiraiya as a teacher, Naruto."

Four...

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Sometimes, I wonder..."

Kakashi laughed. "Don't worry about it." He patted Naruto on the  
head and messed around his hair.

Three...

"Well, I'll see you later, sensei," Naruto said to him.

"Ja ne, Naruto," Kakashi said with a wave as the youth went off on  
his way again.

Two...

Kakashi stretched his arms back over his head. "Well, guess I'd  
better go catch up with Ai-Chan. One!"

His hands came together and he performed a quick hand seal, then the  
Jounin instructor disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

A little ways away, Ai was rooftop hopping along towards the rock  
quarry as the female shinobi was nearing their intended destination.

"Oi, Ai-Chan," Kakashi called out to her, approaching his old friend  
and teammate from her left side. He too was hopping from building to  
building towards her. "Can I have my book now, please?"

Ai paused for a moment and smiled, "But, Ka-Chan, you haven't caught  
me yet." She said with a smirk. Then her hands flew out as she threw  
a double handful of paper at the copy ninja. It wasn't meant to hurt  
but only to slow him down since she was aiming mostly for his face.  
If he could use his jutsu then she gets to use her paper. She  
laughed again using her Taijutsu speed to race off to the quarry.

Kakashi brandished his kunai knife and eyed the paper as it flew  
towards him. As the sunlight hit it, he noticed a kind of wet-  
looking sheen to the paper that Ai sent at him.

"Flypaper," he said to himself. "Jumbo sized." He tossed his kunai  
at the paper, sticking it to the top of a nearby roof as he sailed  
over it.

He smiled under his mask. "Ai-Chan!" Kakashi called out to her in a  
sing-songy voice. "I'm getting closer. You'll have to put a little  
more effort into your attacks against me."

Aiyousha grinned, "Now if I did that, you'd get hurt." She threw  
back at him. She threw up her arm and the paper she kept with her  
swirled around her, hiding her from his view. She swiftly formed  
seals with her hands the whole time praying the jutsu would work,  
that she could force open her chakra gates enough to let this  
work. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." She whispered, then she felt it, the  
all too unfamiliar feeling of her chakra rushing through her. It was  
powerful, it was over whelming...it resulted in a single copy. Ai  
went to sigh in disappointment when she felt the pain in her chest.  
One hand shot up to press over her heart as she stumbled for a  
moment. She pushed too hard. Kakashi would kill her if he found out  
how much stress she put on her body doing Nin and gin jutsus. It  
took her only a moment to recover before she threw her arm back,   
launching the paper towards the copy ninja. They cut into the roof  
at his feet, as a warning to not draw so close. Both her and her  
copy took off in different directions. Though after awhile the real  
Aiyousha headed back towards the quarry and the waiting Sasuke.

"Are? (Huh?)" Kakashi blinked as the rooftop beneath his feet gave  
way. The Copy Ninja's body vanished in a puff of grey smoke and a  
statue of a panda bear replaced him and fell into the hole.

By that time, they finally reached the quarry where Sasuke was  
practicing his jutsus for the final round of the chuunin exam that  
would be held in a month.

The dark-haired, dour youth slammed his chakra enhanced left arm  
into a large boulder, his chakra shooting out into his target like  
electricity. Sasuke peeled back from his stone practice dummy and  
his red eyes reverted back to their original dark color. Damn...  
that took almost everything I had.

Sasuke slumped against the floor on his backside when he noticed a  
pair of figures near him. A woman, who was extremely beautiful, landed  
just off to his side. "Who's there?" he asked.

Then all of a sudden, Kakashi appeared behind her and wrapped his  
arms around the woman, pinning her arms down at her sides. "Gotcha!  
Don't think you're the only one who can send divided bodies out.  
Now, for my prize." He reached one hand into her shirt to grab his  
book... and ended up groping something much more soft, round, and  
pleasant. "Uh... whoops."

Sasuke's jaw dropped. His sensei had just assaulted and groped an  
innocent woman. "Kakashi-sensei!"

Ai kicked her feet off the ground, jerking and thrashing like a  
hooked fish as she screamed, "KAKASHI! YOU PERVERT!" Finally she  
managed to jerk away from the copy ninja. She re-adjusted her shirt  
before pulling the book from her VEST. She threw it at her fellow  
Jounin, nailing him in the head, "THERE! There's your stupid book!  
It certainly hasn't taught you anything about a REAL woman!" She  
snarled and turned her back to the Ninja.

"Well, you haven't changed at all," Kakashi stated, bending down and  
picking up his book.

"Ano... Sensei?" asked a confused Sasuke.

He tucked it away in his vest and approached Ai and rested a hand on  
her shoulder. "Look, I apologize okay. My hand slipped is all. I  
know that's no excuse, but I'm still sorry all the same." He gave a  
small bow of the head. Ai still had a temper, so he knew he'd have  
to be pretty careful around her. Maybe after this he'd just leave  
with Sasuke to train somewhere else, give her a chance to cool down.

"Sensei?"

Ai took a small breath, for some reason Kakashi could always get her  
angrier than anyone else around. "Its okay, Ka-kun." She said  
softly, resting her hand over Kakashi's. "Accidents happen." Her  
gaze turned from Kakashi's single viewable eye to Sasuke's black  
ones. "Ah, you must be Ka-kun's student, Uchiha Sasuke. It's a  
pleasure to finally meet you. Ka-kun's been very vocal about your  
achievements." She told him.

Kakashi smiled; the movement of his mouth under his mask was quite  
obvious. "I'll just have to be more careful around you then. It's  
been a while. Forgot about that hard temper you have."

Sasuke nodded his head and looked back and forth between his teacher  
and Ai. "I'm... not disturbing anything here, am I. I just never  
knew Kakashi had a girlfriend... I mean, considering this IS Kakashi-  
sensei after all."

Ai looked shocked at Sasuke's interpretation of events. She glanced  
at Kakashi and quickly looked away, blushing. "Don't say such  
things, Sasuke-kun. Kakashi and I are just friends. We were in the  
same cell. She said quickly, trying to defuse the situation before  
Kakashi got it into his head to do something weird.

"Like you, Naruto and Sakura, Ai-Chan was my teammate from my days as  
a Gennin and then a Chuunin. That's all," stated Kakashi, as serious  
as ever.

Sasuke looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded his head. "Oh,   
okay." He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm surprised you're hear so  
early. On time, I mean. Usually, you'd have just made me wait."

"Well..." Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "I just decided to  
stop by on time. I do that sometimes. Right, Ai-Chan?"

Ai chuckled, "Actually the only time he would actually be on time  
was when we were genins. The only reason he's here on time is  
because of me." She said, admitting her ulterior motive for buying  
the new Come Come Paradise for Kakashi. "He hasn't yet figured out  
that it's rude to keep one's team waiting." She said slyly.

Kakashi winced then gave a small nervous laugh. "Ha ha... you got me  
there."

"Well, it doesn't really matter. I've been training here since after  
lunch," Sasuke stated. "I just wanted to get the extra practice in  
with that new jutsu you showed me before."

Kakashi stared at the wide holes in the stone behind his pupil. "I  
see you're beginning to master it quite well."

"I've still got a long way to go."

"Ah! Sou ka! (I got it)" Kakashi tapped a closed fist into his open  
palm. "Ai-Chan, would you care to help me train Sasuke. I'm sure he  
could benefit from learning what you learned out in the field for so  
long. What do you say?"

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. It didn't matter to him who was  
training him, just so long as he got stronger. "Suki ni shiro. (Do  
what you like.) The final part of the chuunin exam in one month.  
I need to get strong enough to fight that guy from the Sand before  
then."


End file.
